System upgrade advice

I do agree with much of ZD posts, however I can’t help but believe that regardless of what you do with the rest of your system some dampening of the room via use of carpet and pad, curtains, and some acoustic panels at primary reflection points won’t improve the treble. A bare room is simply to alive IMO. You might look into ATS acoustics of Piper City, Illinois. They sell factory made acoustic panels and DIY supplies. There web site is good.

Where is the 8’ opening relative to the speakers, listening chair, and window?

I agree. Treat the room, then play with speaker placement. Less toe, speaker grills on.

Treating your room is going to make any speaker sound better so I would definitely recommend that.

I still think that the Paradigms are not to your liking though. I've had mini monitors, studio 10, 20, 40, 60 and they were all too bright for me.

"02-04-15: Mesch
I do agree with much of ZD posts, however I can’t help but believe that regardless of what you do with the rest of your system some dampening of the room via use of carpet and pad, curtains, and some acoustic panels at primary reflection points won’t improve the treble. A bare room is simply to alive IMO. You might look into ATS acoustics of Piper City, Illinois. They sell factory made acoustic panels and DIY supplies. There web site is good."

You do have a point about improving SQ with room treatments. A lot can be done to improve focus and imaging, take care of echoes, and all sorts of similar issues. If you are talking about an issue like sibilance and other HF related problems, its just so hard to deal with the problem when the frequencies are very directional and have a direct line of sight to your ears. For me personally, its a big issue. I've been working with this problem for many years and it seems like the only way deal with it is in a very direct way. And that's making changes with the gear itself.

That said, I absolutely agree that room acoustics should be looked at. Its a win/win situation. Even if you are not able to fix the HF issue, you're still going to make your system sound better. Also, to add to the end of Mesch's post, a while back, The Audio Perfectionist Journal did an article on how to make your own room treatments. Basically, the most common material used to treat acoustics are made out of fibre glass. Its a very simple process. All you need to do is buy the rectangular fibreglass panels they sell at your average home improvement store, and cover them with a fabric that matches the room. The cost is very low and they work very well. Unfortunately, I don't have the article or I would post it.

Owens Corning also makes some good products for diy acoustic panels. 703, 705 I think.

Vjb, I think that Zd provided a very good response to my latest post. I also agree that it is likely the Paradigms are not to your liking, as they are bright with an 'aggressive’ tweeter. I owned the Studio 20s however had them mated to a Vincent 226 hybrid amp (tube linestage) which I felt leaned more toward the musical than analytical side. Not as bright IMO as Rotel amps I’ve heard.

While in the process of treating your room, you might also take your amp to dealers that have speakers of interest. You can hear the speakers as they sound driven by your amp, and also likely have a chance to compare them with another amp of different character. There are allot of very fine speakers at or below your stated budget for the 804s.

Good luck in your quest. Please keep us posted as to your progress.